Liberate your résumé from obscurity
When a search engine is “reading” your résumé, it doesn’t care one iota that you’re a people person, a team player or that your favorite hobby is collecting bottle caps. Nothing personal, but it’s got a one-track mind programmed to ferret out only the keywords, or search terms (to use the correct lingo), indicating your application might be worthy of a recruiter’s 30-second — more in your case, once you’ve incorporated my advice here — attention span.
Repeat after me
So you must take pains, great pains, to repeat those keywords and to do so consistently — yes, that’s right: over and over again — throughout your résumé copy, while also making sure you’re using the right ones. The more heavy-handed you are in salting your application with them, the higher your ranking — i.e., likelihood of being plucked as a “best match” out of the vast maw into which most online submissions are sucked, then sunk.
Remember: you can never use too much salt
And while you’re at it, sprinkle some over your left shoulder for good luck.
That my friends, in a few quick shakes, is the simple-minded logic behind SEO, aka Search Engine Optimization — a bane to creative wordsmiths like me because it’s just so predictable and…unimaginative. (Go ahead and add your own equally descriptive adjectives here, but don’t you dare use them in your CV.)
Now before you reach for the aspirin bottle at the thought of fiddling with your résumé AGAIN, here are a few quick tricks to ensure yours floats effortlessly to the top of the heap and onto the recruiter’s computer screen where it will glow with promise and land you that much-coveted job interview.
Be liberal in applying core search terms
Squeeze them in wherever you can. Repeat relevant, easy-to-grasp job titles and responsibilities in your headline, brief profile/intro/summary and every succeeding job description. Do the same for strengths, using the posted job requirements as your guide.
Because you can never be certain which exact search terms a recruiter is using, also do a synonym search to cover off all your bases, or variations on your theme. Now weave those in liberally as well.
Whatever you do, refrain from using former employer-given titles if they diverge from commonly understood ones.
Take a few practice test runs
The best way to test my advice in action and get immediate feedback is to start by revising your LinkedIn profile. Then, using keywords, conduct an Advanced People Search function on yourself using different job titles. Keep at it until you’re positioned at top of the list.
For more on how to used LinkedIn for this purpose, I recommend you turn to LinkedIn Strategies Group Nathan Kievman’s video at: http://www.linkedstrategies.com/linkedin-keyword-optimization.htm
Up, up and away you go. Remember: Cream always rises to the top, even though you have to master a bit of SEO to get there.
— Judy Margolis